"Vivid" by Cooldown

a Review by Anna Maria Stjärnell

Cooldown have an exciting electronic sound and a great singer in Miss Benny. They land somewhere between Portishead and Björk on this album.

The sweet first song "Several Independent Films" is a wonderful thing. Miss Benny"s siren-like vocals rides atop Michael Balch"s keyboards beautifully.

"Amazonia" starts with the crackle of good old-fashioned vinyl and miss Benny"s vocals are mixed real low. The dreamlike feel that the opening evokes gives way to a more focused and intricate song than one might have expected. It's an example of how good Cooldown are at making fresh new sounds from old familiar tricks.

The hard driving "Tunnel Rat" sounds like it could get a dancefloor moving while still being a good thing to listen to at home.

The poetic lyrics and weird background noises on "Slippery One" recalls British band Laika in a nice way.

"Vivid" is a fine album that is danceable and thoughtful all at once.

Posted on October 23, 2002